Asked by: Lord Godson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the long-term financial sustainability of the current organisational and funding structures of the NHS.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to putting the National Health Service on a sustainable financial footing. The Government has taken the difficult decisions to protect and invest in the NHS. As announced at 2025 Budget, the Government is investing an additional £15 billion in NHS resource funding in real terms, a £29 billion cash increase, by 2028/29, compared with 2025/26. The 2025 Budget also confirmed that the Department’s capital budgets will rise to £15.2 billion by the end of the Spending Review period, 2029/30, to invest in the NHS and wider health infrastructure.
The Government’s assessment is that long-term financial sustainability requires reform alongside investment, as highlighted by Lord Darzi’s 2024 independent investigation into the NHS in England. In July 2025 the Government set out our plans for reform in the 10-Year Health Plan to ensure that the NHS has long-term sustainability by: shifting from hospital to community care through neighbourhood health to deliver care that is more cost-effective; shifting from analogue to digital with up to £10 billion of investment in NHS technology and transformation to boost productivity; and shifting from sickness to prevention to reduce demand on the health service.
The Government also announced in March 2025 that it will transform the centre of the health and care system, including through abolishing NHS England, following passage of legislation, subject to the will of Parliament. Along with renewing the role of integrated care boards as strategic commissioners, these reforms will cut bureaucracy and save more than £1 billion a year.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of applicants to the UK's Active Reserve forces successfully joined in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK’s Reserve Forces are a vital component of Defence, providing critical capability, specialist skills and a strong connection to wider society, while offering a flexible and cost‑effective means of meeting operational demand. Reserves underpin the Armed Forces’ ability to respond to threats at home and overseas, and the Strategic Defence Review has reinforced their importance, including our ambition to grow the Active Reserve by at least 20 per cent.
In Financial Year 2024-25, the proportion of people who applied to join the Armed Forces Reserves and who subsequently became untrained entrants was as follows: Royal Navy 7%, British Army 4%, Royal Air Force 5%, in line with a long-standing trend.
Between the point of application and becoming an untrained entrant, a variety of checks and tests are conducted to ensure that any applicant entering training is suitable for military service and that it is credible that the applicant will complete training. This ensures that the standards of the Armed Forces are maintained and that public funds and resources are not wasted. There are a number of reasons for an applicant not being successful, including medical scrutiny. Reserve applications, when compared to Regulars, also reflects an older profile of applicants together with a need to balance service with civilian work and family life. In addition, historically these tests and checks in the recruiting process have involved multiple stages and appointments, which can lengthen timelines and increase drop‑out before entry.
The Department has taken urgent and targeted action since November 2024 to improve throughput which has been low historically. The Services have already streamlined recruiting processes by reducing the number of appointments, increasing automation and using digital tools to speed up decision‑making, which has improved conversion in some areas. Reserves‑specific national and local marketing campaigns are being used to better target likely candidates and set clearer expectations from the outset. From next year, Reserve recruiting will also transition to the new Armed Forces Recruiting System, which will use modern technology and industry expertise to deliver a faster, more effective and more consistent recruiting experience across Defence.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the expansion of fintech firms, including Wise, Klarna, Revolut and Paypal, into current accounts and other core banking services on competition, consumer choice and market concentration in the retail banking sector.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is a world leader in Fintech, and attracted $3.6 billion of investment in 2025, second only to the US. The Government is committed to making the UK the world’s most technologically advanced global financial centre, and remaining a leading jurisdiction for fintech firms to start-up, scale and list.
Over the last decade, fintechs and specialist banks have increased their share amongst part of the retail banking market, and are an essential part of the UK's banking landscape. Over the same period, business models and financial technology have evolved substantially, increasing competitive pressure and expanding the range of products and services available to consumers.
Firms providing regulated banking and payment services are required to meet robust standards of consumer protection and operational resilience. The Government and the financial services regulators keep competition and market concentration in retail banking under review, and ensuring all individuals have access to the appropriate financial services and products is a key priority for the Government.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of fintech firms in providing capital to support scaling businesses.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is a world leader in Fintech, and attracted $3.6 billion of investment in 2025, second only to the US. The Government is committed to making the UK the world’s most technologically advanced global financial centre, and remaining a leading jurisdiction for fintech firms to start-up, scale and list.
Over the last decade, fintechs and specialist banks have commanded a materially higher share of new SME lending, and are an essential part of the UK's credit landscape, including access to working capital. The share of total nominal gross bank lending to SMEs by challenger and specialist banks in 2024 was 60%. Over the same period, business models and financial technology have also evolved substantially, with more competition both for business banking and credit provision, increasing the options available to small and medium-sized enterprises to invest in and grow their businesses.
Asked by: Lord Wills (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the Freedom of Information casework budget for the Information Commissioner's Office will be next year; and whether that budget will match the previous year's in real terms.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
While the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)’s sponsor department within government and provide ICO’s Freedom of Information (FOI) funding as a Grant-in-Aid, government policy for Freedom of Information sits with the Cabinet Office.
The government is committed to ensuring sufficient funding for the ICO’s FOI responsibilities. Spending review budget allocations until Financial Year 2028-29 will be finalised by DSIT and will be published in due course.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she intends to launch the third round of the Slurry Infrastructure Grant Scheme.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Slurry Infrastructure Grant first opened in 2022 and has run for two rounds. The grant supports farmers to build 6-month slurry storage and to cover stores with impermeable covers to reduce ammonia emissions. The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund 2026 grant supports farmers, growers, foresters and contractors to buy equipment and technology that improves productivity, animal health and welfare, and slurry management.
Through the Environmental Improvement Plan, published last year, the Government has committed to work with stakeholders to reduce water pollution and ammonia emissions from farming through streamlined regulation and develop detailed proposals on the extension of environmental permitting for dairy and intensive beef farms for consultation. Improved slurry infrastructure, with appropriate capacity and emission reducing features like covers, is one of the mitigation measures that will be considered as we develop these regulatory proposals, as well as the potential for further financial support.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure the UK remains internationally competitive in financial technology innovation.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is a world leader in Fintech, and attracted $3.6 billion of investment in 2025, second only to the US. The Government is committed to making the UK the world’s most technologically advanced global financial centre, and remaining a leading jurisdiction for Fintech firms to start, scale, list, and stay.
In addition to measures announced in the Financial Competitiveness and Growth Strategy and at Budget, the Government set out at UK Fintech Week 2026 further detail on how it intends to modernise payment services regulation and update it to support new innovations in money and payments, ahead of soon publishing a consultation inviting the payments sector to feedback. This includes improving the regulation of payment services and electronic money by better integrating it with the UK’s core regulatory approach for financial services; regulating stablecoins for their use in payments, where these stablecoins have been issued under the forthcoming new regulated activity for stablecoin issuance in the UK; exploring how the regulation of payments services should adapt to payments conducted by AI agents; and providing the FCA new powers to regulate the future of Open Banking. The Government also published as part of the package draft secondary legislation to cut administrative burdens for companies wanting to provide stablecoin payments.
The Government has also appointed Chris Woolard CBE as Wholesale Digital Markets Champion, to provide market leadership and support industry progress on the development of a tokenised wholesale financial markets ecosystem.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding is allocated for research into treatments for Motor Neurone Disease.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Government responsibility for delivering motor neurone disease (MND) research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation, primarily by the Medical Research Council.
It is not the usual process of the NIHR to allocate funds for research into specific conditions. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including MND. Our approach to funding research is through open and fair competition and peer review to ensure that the highest-quality proposals, most likely to deliver real impact for patients, are funded without imposing financial targets or limits.
The Government is investing in MND research across a range of areas, including possible treatments. For example, the MND Translational Accelerator, supported by £6 million of Government funding, has twelve projects all aimed at speeding up the development of treatments for MND.
The NIHR has also invested £8 million into EXPERTS-ALS, a pre-clinical study which is designed to accelerate the identification and testing of the most promising treatment candidates for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the most common form of MND. This will connect to the later phase platform trial, MND SMART.
Welcoming applications on MND to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will work with Avanti to improve internet connectivity on board their trains on the route between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The DFT Operator (DFTO), on behalf of the Secretary of State, meet with Avanti West Coast (AWC) regularly to discuss services for passengers, including onboard Wi-Fi connectivity.
AWC is upgrading its onboard Wi-Fi system which is intended to improve connectivity speeds and performance. Additionally, AWC previously completed a positive trial using laser window etching technology to improve connectivity and will be undertaking further testing with the view to roll out across its Class 390 fleet. These projects will improve connectivity for passengers across all AWC services but particularly those operated by Class 390 trains, including the London to Manchester route.
More generally, services on the West Coast Main Line will benefit from the Spending Review funding to deploy low earth orbit satellite connectivity, to significantly improve the on-train Wi-Fi. The DfTO Telecoms Policy team is currently working through the procurement strategy and business case process and further details will be announced in due course. Also, Project Reach will improve the mobile signal in 57 tunnels on the three mainline routes on the East Coast Mainline, West Coast Mainline and Great Western.
Operators are required to achieve challenging customer experience targets across a range of measures, including Wi-Fi connectivity. These standards are regularly and independently inspected via the Service Quality Regime and there are accountability and financial consequences for failure.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of telecommunications equipment containing components manufactured in countries deemed to pose a security risk.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Telecoms supply chains are complex and international and are managed by industry. However, the government is committed to ensuring secure and resilient telecoms supply chains.
The robust Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021 regime places obligations on public communications providers to manage supply chain risks, including to identify, reduce and prepare for the risk of security compromises to their networks. Ofcom monitors compliance with these obligations through its information gathering powers, and the Secretary of State makes decisions on enforcement based on this information and additional advice. The Act also gives ministers powers to restrict the use of vendors in UK networks on national security grounds.
The previous government have used the Act’s national security powers to designate Huawei in 2022, and issue legally binding directions restricting their use in UK telecoms networks, supported by a strengthened underpinned by an enforcement regime including clear financial penalties for non-compliance.
The telecoms security Code of Practice was introduced in 2022, which sets out in detail the technical and organisational steps public communications providers must take to identify, reduce and manage supply chain and vendor‑related security risks, with compliance overseen and enforced by Ofcom. We are currently in the process of updating the Code of Practice to provide public telecoms providers with further guidance, reflecting recent changes in threats and technologies
We are also committed to growing the UK’s role in Advanced Connectivity Technology supply chains. The government is supporting targeted R&D programmes with UKRI and other partners to support the development and commercialisation of next generation technologies. This will enable UK firms to participate more fully in global telecoms supply chains and reduce UK dependence on other countries.
Telecoms supply chain risks are considered as part of cross-government efforts to improve the security and resilience of supply chains. The government works with business to address these risks, building the conditions required to deliver secure growth. The government continues to monitor and respond to turbulence in global sectors and supply chains that are crucial to the UK’s economic and national security.